Real World MPG

[Luna]

29-32mpg...usually 29 in the city and 31 when making my 16 mile commute that is mostly interstate miles

all stock

[johnnyfast11]

why am i only getting 24-25 mixed???? 50highway 50city
i rarely rarely drive it hard.
manual.

i usually go around 72-82

i do have AC on almost all the time though.


??? anyone comment???

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Combustion engines are most efficient at constant speed constant load.

So cruise control with rpm's under 3.5k rpms will net you 30+ mpg pretty easily. If I take a shitty way to work I'll get <25 mpg, if I take the route with smooth flowing traffic I'll be well over 25 mpg, cruising on the freeway at 75 mph will get me 32 mpg easy. This is of course assuming you're not redlining all your shifts.

If you're driving in a city and stopping every block getting less than 25 mpg is expected, see the window sticker.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Power...-S&srchtyp=ymm

And driving with cruise control is BOOOOORING. But it is efficient. I've been doing this with my tuned BRZ, and I need to stay 3krpms or just under at constant load to see good, high efficiency. Otherwise it's mid 20's or lower if I get on the gas.

So, on the way to work it's 65mph cruise control. Going home, 70-75. Why the speed difference? To work it's an uphill, and that puts a harder load (even at the same rpm's) on the engine, thus more fuel injected, and the car won't even see 30mpg on the uphill route much if I'm going 70-75. Going downhill, much lighter load as gravity is helping, so I can get the same efficiency that I was at 60-65 but now going 70-75 (not to mention going faster for similar load means going farther per injection cycle).

I also try not to use my brakes on the freeway... ever. I downshift instead, and only brake if engine braking doesn't slow me down to where I need to be.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

And driving with cruise control is BOOOOORING.

Dayum, 10 month old post gets a response.

Driving for fuel economy is boring, that's like complaining about an accounting job having too many numbers in a day.


Sounds like you're doing everything right though. If you wanna save a couple bucks drop the speed going downhill too, I netted 35 mpg keeping the car at 65, ~80% of the trip was flat.

Originally Posted by johnnyfast11

why am i only getting 24-25 mixed???? 50highway 50city

That's actually pretty spot on for EPA estimates:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Power...-S&srchtyp=ymm

Heavy city driving will be about 20 mpg, and regular freeway driving around 30, but you're going a bit quicker than most, drop the speed down to 70 or so and you should see an uptick in that portion of your driving, even more so down at 65, I haven't been nuts enough to try 55 but I'm tempted to see if I can get 40mpg... Also remember that sitting in rush hour is going to be closer to the city mpg of 20 than freeway estimates. As for improving city mpg all you can do is drive gingerly, keep it nice and smooth, get up to cruising speed quickly and put it in high gear, down shift early and coast in gear up to the stop/light and take routes that offer the most consistent average speed (i.e. the slightly larger road that may be a couple extra blocks with traffic lights vs. cutting through the neighborhood with a dozen stop signs).

Yes you'll get better mpg with the A/C off but it honestly isn't worth the sacrifice especially in Texas (AZ, CA, FL, whatever) heat. Maybe +1-2 at the most.

So far on this tank I've only done a handful of miles on streets <35 mph, traffic lights every block, idling a lot, pretty much worst nightmare for fuel economy, have been playing around with the gears winding it out a bit and my computer is telling me I'm getting ~21 mpg, like I said above my last tank was 35mpg, it's all in how and where you drive.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Dayum, 10 month old post gets a response.

Driving for fuel economy is boring, that's like complaining about an accounting job having too many numbers in a day.


Sounds like you're doing everything right though. If you wanna save a couple bucks drop the speed going downhill too, I netted 35 mpg keeping the car at 65, ~80% of the trip was flat.

It's more me bitching that Phoenix doesn't have more accessible fun roads for me to have fun on .

You have to go pretty far out to get to the fun routes, so basically weekend cruises is when we get to have fun in these cars. Day to day, it's boring-old-freeway. At least on the freeway it doesn't drink gas like the STI did. So I can conserve my gas when it's not as fun to drive for those times when it's an absolute blast to hang the ass end out around the corners and such.

[Luna]

Originally Posted by johnnyfast11

why am i only getting 24-25 mixed???? 50highway 50city
i rarely rarely drive it hard.
manual.

i usually go around 72-82

i do have AC on almost all the time though.


??? anyone comment???

Your speed, AC on in city traffic, and some of these people probably aren't manually figuring their mileage. The MPG thing on the car usually says I'm getting 2 MPG more than I really am.

[Scooby South]

Stage 2 Nameless Tune with Nameless header back exhaust, Netted me 30.9 mpg on the highway last week.. thats on 91/93 ..


Bill

[tahdizzle]

Pfft. Im faster to the gas station than my needle is to "E". thats all that matters!

[johnnyfast11]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

Pfft. Im faster to the gas station than my needle is to "E". thats all that matters!

this goes out to everyone as a HUGE WARNING.

dont let your tank go empty or too low.
the gasoline is what actually keeps your fuel pump from overheating and burning up.

my previous evo i let ran out of gas and stalled. resulted in burnt out fuel pump, extreme heat in EGT, burnt/melted catalytic converter, car in limp mode would not drive past 35mph, etc etc, down time, costly repairs.


even if your tank is low and not empty yet, FILL UP ASAP, to keep your fuel pump cool.


all it takes is once, then your fuel pump could go to shit. literally.

this is from personal experience.

happy friday guys. cheers!

[Ganthrithor]

My car's computer says I've got a cumulative average of 23 mpg. I usually get 30 +/- 2 on the highway.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by johnnyfast11

all it takes is once, then your fuel pump could go to shit. literally.

How old was the Mitsu? I find this highly surprising that one low tank burned out the pump, along with the list of other things you mentioned there might have been more neglect involved. I would have thought most tanks would leave the fuel pump submerged even on empty.

It isn't the worst habit in the world but you shouldn't be frightened to go a little past the fill up light.

My Nissan has been run out of gas a handful of times (I know at least 2x by me), at 200k miles it's still got the original fuel pump

[Mossyjaw]

I always wait till the light has been on a day before filling up. I've done this since my very first car and have never had a fuel pump go bad.


Anyhoozles, manual I've been averaging 28.5 mpg and that's is mixed driving. The computer says 29.6 because of 2 or 3 longs trips were I got 32-33.5 mpg.

[kberkel]

My avg is 29.2. My drive is almost equal city and highway. Im docile on the highway with cruise control.. but I'm erratic in the city, I drive fast but shift low, and I probably redline once or twice almost everyday.

[SirBrass]

The light comes on at approximately 3 gallons left. That is, 10.2 gallons approximately consumed.

On phone I am. Therefore, if mistakes I make, Frank Oz blame you should.